CHICAGO — Pete Crow-Armstrong, the Chicago Cubs’ uniquely talented center fielder, did not bury the lede in his essay for The Players’ Tribune, hyping up Major League Baseball’s postseason tournament: “I feel like I’ve been f—in’ searching for something lately.”
If the Cubs had those answers, they would have already done something about it. And if it was that easy, then just about anybody could do it. Besides, this is not the time to overanalyze Crow-Armstrong’s swing. After he had an MVP-caliber first half and a deep slump following the All-Star break, the playoffs represented a fresh start.
Crow-Armstrong had his chance to change Game 2 of the National League Wild Card Series and potentially end the San Diego Padres’ season Wednesday afternoon. An engaged crowd of 41,083 knew it, and the chants echoed throughout Wrigley Field: “P-C-A! P-C-A!”
It didn’t matter that it was only the fourth inning. These are two evenly matched teams in a best-of-three series with a constant sense of urgency and little margin for error. With two outs, Seiya Suzuki on second base and Carson Kelly due up, Padres manager Mike Shildt called for an intentional walk and summoned left-handed reliever Adrian Morejon to replace Dylan Cease and face Crow-Armstrong.
Four pitches later, Crow-Armstrong hit a groundball toward first base, slamming his helmet when he reached the bag too late and screaming in frustration. After a 3-0 loss forced the Cubs into Thursday’s elimination game, Crow-Armstrong’s signature postseason moment remains unwritten.
“The confidence is in the same exact place it’s been all year,” Crow-Armstrong said before repeating the part of a reporter’s question that seemed to bother him. “I don’t think that’s what I show up here to do — to make my ‘individual mark.’
“My job is, and again, I’ve said this so much this year, so I hope everybody takes that with them: I love playing center field. Right now, that’s my job. You’ve seen the outfield play the last two days. Seiya’s been nails. Ian (Happ’s) been nails. We’ve gotten a lot of action.
“The ebb and flow, or the ups and downs of my offensive game, is just the thing that I come and attack every day in the cage. I feel no pressure about making my ‘individual mark.’ Only because my goal is just to play as long into October, and then hopefully early November, as I can.”
The Cubs might not have made it past September without Crow-Armstrong’s spectacular season, which featured 31 home runs, 35 stolen bases, 37 doubles and the aforementioned Gold Glove-caliber defense, all at the age of 23.
Chicago’s offensive lull also isn’t isolated to Crow-Armstrong, who’s 0-for-6 with five strikeouts against the Padres. Happ is 0-for-8 with five strikeouts so far in the wild-card round. Kyle Tucker hasn’t yet delivered a big hit in this series, and with free agency looming, Thursday could represent his final game in a Cubs uniform.
This is, of course, a small sample. But that is the essence of postseason baseball, what makes these events so dramatic, and why the players who perform in those moments get paid and get remembered.
“The first two matchups in this series have been pitchers that have done a good job exploiting Pete’s holes,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “That’s their job, right? They’ve executed pitches really well to do that. They’ve made a lot of good pitches on Pete. Clearly, today they made a lot of good pitches on everybody.”
Good luck to anybody facing San Diego reliever Mason Miller, who pairs a 104 mph fastball with a nasty slider, or Robert Suarez, the change-of-pace closer throwing 101 mph. Those maximum-effort appearances can also be draining. The Cubs hope they created a cumulative effect by winning Game 1 and forcing the Padres to push their bullpen toward the limits in Game 2.
“We knew it was going to be tough,” Crow-Armstrong said. “I don’t think any of us expected to have the Padres just lay down. It would have been really nice to just get this series over with today. But we’re also prepared to come back tomorrow and do it again.”
When an entire season comes down to only nine more guaranteed innings, stars matter. This year has proved that few players in the entire sport can match Crow-Armstrong’s wide-ranging ability to affect a game. At some point, the Cubs believe, those intensely competitive instincts will take over.
“The same mindset,” Crow-Armstrong said. “We’re just looking forward to getting another game out of the Wrigley crowd. That’s how I’m going to choose to look at it. We knew this wouldn’t be easy. The boys are going to show up and repeat. We’re all trusting in each other, and in the process. That’s been a big focus of ours. We’ve all been really good at that. We’ll come back tomorrow and take it to ’em.”
(Photo: Matt Marton / Imagn Images)
